Childhood Foods

When I got this wrapped tin from a generous 'Aunty', I suspected it contained almond cookies. Ble'ch! Almond cookies are like ground almonds held together by butter. Stick a whole almond on top, stick it into an oven for too long and voila! Simultaneously dry and too greasy. When you chew one, it forms a gluggy, almondy paste which coats your teeth and tongue. Ble'ch.

I thanked her politely and wondered how I might get rid of such an inferior baked good without wastage. I let the tin sit on my shelf unopened for a little while.

I didn't question my assumption until I picked up the tin a year or two later and shook it gently to see what sound the contents made. Left to right gave a sliding sound *shuuuk*. Front to back made no sound - the contents did not budge. Curious. Almond cookies would topple over each other, not slide. The contents had to be long-shaped.

[gasp!]

Egg rolls!!

Using my nail, I sliced through the sticky tape holding closed the square, outer lid and used a spoon to lever open the round, inner lid, as I had did many times as a child. One last obstacle before reaching the golden logs... Bubble wrap! Extra fun.

As I offered it to suspecting friends, I explained their unassuming delights:

"They taste like fortune cookies."

"They are as fun as other foods with a hole in them, like spaghetti!"

"You can pretend to smoke them like cigars," I demonstrate with an egg roll between two fingers, narrowing my eyes glamorously. "But they have to point to the sky, so when you bite into them, the crumbs fall back into your mouth". Even as children, we perfected this technique of eating egg rolls to leave my mum's floor clean.